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Post by jtaylor on Aug 13, 2007 19:59:27 GMT -5
I rode Sunday morning 8/12-- the trail is as dry as I have ever seen it. ALERT- the 4 mile bridge is twisted on the near side and unless very dry will be very slippery and you will go in the big creek bed!! Trees down at 0.7, 3.5, 3.7, 3.9, 4.0, 4.2 miles and the leaner at 5.5 miles. Overgrowth not too bad. Jimmy, Marco's et al work so far is very nice.
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Post by JIMMYC on Aug 14, 2007 10:29:55 GMT -5
How big is the tree @ .7 mile, and what is that close to? I think it just fell in the past week or so. Are there any tree past 5.5 mile or was that your turn around? Yeah, Marco's good with that gas powered sling blade thing.
thanks, jimmy
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Post by jtaylor on Aug 14, 2007 11:55:40 GMT -5
The tree is about 12" and about 3' off the ground- hung up in some other trees. Otherwise it would be a rider. It's not far past the first climb. I figured it was new since you guys cut the trees in the first couple miles. The trail ends at 5.6 miles, I think. When I moved here in 2000, the trail died in a recent clear cut, and I have never followed the white (I think) blazes.
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Post by JIMMYC on Aug 14, 2007 13:08:14 GMT -5
That tree is between the first 2 creek crossings, right? I did not realize it was only 5.5 mile to the clear cut. Lowell and I have planned to try finish Saturday. thanks for the great intel. jimmy c.
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Post by JIMMYC on Aug 20, 2007 6:49:08 GMT -5
Lowell and I cut trees from the 2 mile mark (access A) to just past the 4.5 mile mark, clearing out about 6 to 7 places, we did not get to the end. If no new trees have fallen there should only be 2 places that need cutting.
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Post by driftwood on Aug 20, 2007 12:00:19 GMT -5
Thanks to JimmyC and Lowell for clearing out those trees. I was in the adventure race on Sat, and having all of those trees out of the way really sped things up. I'm sure having a the 80+ racers riding through there helped to clear the trail a bit too. It seems like FATS is the only trail that get's a large volume of riders regularly anymore.
We hit Modoc from 632A...came out somewhere near the 5.5 mile marker. Going from north to south, the trail looks like it splits there, the right branch takes you to the 5.5 mile marker, and on south on the trail. Where does the left branch go?
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Post by JIMMYC on Aug 20, 2007 14:09:56 GMT -5
If you are talking about the area has three different switch back lines with a bridge to the left, if that's the "left" I'm almost positive it goes up to the power lines then to the gravel 632A. Which brings me to a question, why is that section chopped up like that?
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Post by seenvic on Aug 20, 2007 14:40:26 GMT -5
Thanks to JimmyC and Lowell for clearing out those trees. I was in the adventure race on Sat, and having all of those trees out of the way really sped things up. I'm sure having a the 80+ racers riding through there helped to clear the trail a bit too. It seems like FATS is the only trail that get's a large volume of riders regularly anymore. We hit Modoc from 632A...came out somewhere near the 5.5 mile marker. Going from north to south, the trail looks like it splits there, the right branch takes you to the 5.5 mile marker, and on south on the trail. Where does the left branch go? If I am thinking right, you came to the end of 632A, and in a round about way, turned right going downhill. You came down a big hill, and turned right onto the trail. The left turn used to take you to the old end of Modoc Trail. Back in the day, the public property ended right where you got on the trail. But we used to ride the trail across private property (paper company land) and it ended at the powerlines. Where you made the right turn is now the end of Modoc Trail. Some years ago, the paper co. cut the timber and we pretty much lost the last 3/4 mile of trail that cut across thier land to the powerlines. I believe that land has now changed hands and is owned by the USFS. But I have not heard of any plans to re-open those last few climbs. What would be sweet would be to connect the end of Modoc to Price's Mill Rd. Then connect Turkey Creek to Price's Mill Rd. Add a parking lot at the new end of Turkey Creek and you've got one heck of a ride from 23 to 283.
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Post by seenvic on Aug 21, 2007 8:13:25 GMT -5
If you are talking about the area has three different switch back lines with a bridge to the left, if that's the "left" I'm almost positive it goes up to the power lines then to the gravel 632A. Which brings me to a question, why is that section chopped up like that? I think this is actually just below FS 632B. This is where the bridge is - that no one ever uses. Here is what I know. There is/was an endangered plant species in that creek crossing. Trillium, perhaps I really don't know. So, the USFS wanted to get a bridge across the creek. Along comes a Boyscout looking for a badge - and he built the bridge. I think he did a marvelous job on the bridge. But it is located in a strange place. I flagged a location alot closer to the creek crossing, but the USFS moved it based on water flow and the bank being undercut (if I recall correctly). So then we had the original switchback, which was too high on the hill to make a sustainable approach to this new bridge. So, the switchback was moved down the hill so then when you exited the curve, you could turn left and cross the bridge without bombing straight down a very steep hill. A new section of trail was built on the other side of the bridge. After crossing the bridge, a right would lead you back to the trail right on the other side of the creek crossing. A left would take you up a steep hill to FS 632B. Neither trail was used much, as most people just kept riding the creek crossing because that route was never really closed. This is all at the third creeking crossing from the parking lot. About 2.3 mile in from the trailhead.
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Post by driftwood on Aug 21, 2007 11:51:00 GMT -5
Ok, the unused bridge at the 2.3 mile mark, which is a left off of the switchback there, is not the left I was referring to. I did hike up that way once my first time at Modoc trying to figure out which one was the trail.
This part does sound right though...
"If I am thinking right, you came to the end of 632A, and in a round about way, turned right going downhill. You came down a big hill, and turned right onto the trail."
We came to the end of 632A, and a bit to the right there is a trail, looks like the right width for a 4wheeler, and to get on it you have to go over a little hump. We followed that trail down, but got off of it somewhere because the azimuth to our checkpoint wasn't on the trail. SO...we didn't get to see where it hits Modoc trail. We were bikewhacking over the top of the hills there and when we came over the top Modoc was on the other side. Up until Sat I had always though Modoc just ended at the 5.5 mile mark and you had to turn around, but now I know a few ways to get to the top of the trail using the forest service roads and the trails by the powerlines. Yay for adventure racing.
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Post by seenvic on Aug 21, 2007 20:31:10 GMT -5
but now I know a few ways to get to the top of the trail using the forest service roads and the trails by the powerlines. Yay for adventure racing. Drift, You can ride to the backside of Turkey Creek on those gravel roads. There are about 4 different routes in varying degrees on legality. But I think all of 3 routes are now 100% USFS lands and no longer paper company (private). I think the third, and perhaps best route still dips into private property - but just a tad. Three of the routes cross a bridge on Price Mill Rd and the other route is wading Stevens Creek - which can be done in various locations. See this thread about the connector. sorbacsra.proboards23.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=general&thread=1163178120&page=1 Back in the days before FATS, "The Connector" was ridden quite abit. Sometimes as an out and back, and sometimes as a loop on pavement back to the car. But a ride from 23 to 283 and back was full day - 54 miles with alot of singletrack.
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Post by jtaylor on Aug 24, 2007 9:58:27 GMT -5
Last night, 8/23, Modoc was in reasonably good shape; the last 2 miles need to be trimmed. There is a big rider tree down at about 4.8 miles that should be left; a ride-around is available. One tree needs to be cut at about 5.2 miles (a "leaner"). The small bridge at about 1.7 miles is collapsed and the bridge at about 4.5 miles has a broken board next to the near bank- probably done by the search-and-rescue 4-wheelers last Sunday. Thanks to Jimmy, Lowell, and Marco for the great work recently (hope I didn't leave anybody out).
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Post by seenvic on Aug 24, 2007 14:36:29 GMT -5
Last night, 8/23, Modoc was in reasonably good shape; the last 2 miles need to be trimmed. There is a big rider tree down at about 4.8 miles that should be left; a ride-around is available. ). The formation of the "ride around" would be the reason to cut the tree, IMHO. It is not an asset to the trail nor is it a reason to leave the tree as a rider. Why is a ride around (trail braids, trail wideners) or anything but the original line a good thing? I don't mind getting off my bike for things I can't ride but it is obvious others can ride. The ride around is saying "it's all about me". I can't ride the trail, so I will make the trail so I can ride it. Some hikers do this w/ switchbacks. They are lazy, and want to take the shortest route -and often just cut the swithbacks. I see the ride around as the same thing. Too lazy to learn to ride over it, or too lazy to learn to cyclecross over it, or too lazy to get off and step over it. If ya can't tell, I don't like ride arounds. I like singletrack without braids and preferable narrow.
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Post by jtaylor on Aug 25, 2007 6:11:37 GMT -5
I agree with your 'about me" statement, but then we reduce the trail to the lowest level- every time someone makes a ride-around then we have to remove the (fun) obstacle?? As for "obvious others can ride"- we're back to the cutting trees issue- do we leave it if 1 out of 100 or 1 out of 10 can ride it? This particular spot is flat, so no erosion, etc concerns. I'd like to have a place where we have more "tricks" or obstacles, maybe on a side trail, so there is an alternative for those that don't want to try it. For this trail and this spot, I don't see a problem. Maybe I'm just looking for a compromise so we don't cut all the "big trees" that lay "properly" across the trail.
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Post by Angela on Aug 25, 2007 15:40:32 GMT -5
A good compromise is what Bill and LCT did on the FATS - there are several places along those trails where more experienced riders can take a different line and end up doing something more technical. It is so well done that often it isn't even noticable to you coming down the trail, you'll just suddenly notice a log that you can get up on and ride the length and pop back down.
Those are the type of things we need to provide to satisfy riders of all levels. That said it has taken major, major work to get approval for reroutes that were desperately needed (I'm thinking about Horn Creek and section 4) and it took a lot of work and time to get the USFS to agree to those reroutes. Basically that means we can't easily create a nice little side trail that would satisfy the technical rider.
Education is the key but it will never totally solve the problem and there will always be a difference of opinion on what to do!
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Post by jtaylor on Aug 29, 2007 7:29:43 GMT -5
I worked Saturday and Banks Mumford and I worked last night to finish cleaning Modoc. The hedge-trimmer is not very effective on the grassy areas, but is good on the high/steep bank areas. Sorry for the cut branches left in the trail. I think Modoc has had more attention this last month than in the last several years. I would like to see better markings from the end of the trail to the Forest Service Road, for safety reasons (like the "A" sign now), but that is another project. Now we just need to get the word out to ride this great trail!!
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Post by Angela on Aug 29, 2007 20:12:38 GMT -5
I will put something in the upcoming newsletter about Modoc!
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Post by seenvic on Sept 4, 2007 12:16:10 GMT -5
A good compromise is what Bill and LCT did on the FATS - there are several places along those trails where more experienced riders can take a different line and end up doing something more technical. It is so well done that often it isn't even noticable to you coming down the trail, you'll just suddenly notice a log that you can get up on and ride the length and pop back down. Those are the type of things we need to provide to satisfy riders of all levels. That said it has taken major, major work to get approval for reroutes that were desperately needed (I'm thinking about Horn Creek and section 4) and it took a lot of work and time to get the USFS to agree to those reroutes. Basically that means we can't easily create a nice little side trail that would satisfy the technical rider. Education is the key but it will never totally solve the problem and there will always be a difference of opinion on what to do! Reality 1 - if we want logs to ride over, we have to deal with lazy people that refuse to "not" ride around them. My opinion - Creating a ride around is not much different than just building another trail to suit your needs. Reality 2 - At FATS we had a very wide corridor on a clean slate in which to put the trails. At Modoc, the trail was built in the early 70's and we don't have the authority/right to move it where we want it. Reality 3: If you are riding, or hiking a trail and you come to a tree that has many branches blocking the trail at ground level, waist level, chest level, and all the way over your head - you have two options. One is to turn around and one is to go around it. The reality is that going around it is the only reasonable option and the best option for the trail to remain viable. Ideally, the tree and the branches are removed from the trail fairly timely and the new trail is closed with the debris from the tree. Reality 4: But if you come to the same tree, and it is only blocking the trail at the ground level, and the area above the tree and the trail can easily be stepped over - then we should educate our riders to either ride over it or step over it. We should not accept the "ride around" (see my first "reality" above ) Reality 5: Most of us expect others to follow the rules set by the land managers in terms of trail use, chainsaw use etc..... The rules are what keeps the horses and ATV's off our trails. Why should we expect other people to follow the rules and keep their horses and ATV's off of Modoc, yet we can break the rules and create new trails when a new trail is only needed because a bike rider is too lazy to stop and step over a tree that is only blocking the trail at the ground level. I agree that education is the key. But the message should be to stay on the trail unless it is physically impossible to pass the tree and stay in the trail corridor (see Reality 1). I see no shades of gray in my positions. I am for the rules as written in black and white.
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Post by Angela on Sept 4, 2007 20:18:51 GMT -5
All valid points Bill and continuing to remind riders and set a good example ourselves is a good thing since we can't escort everyone into the woods.
Your stewardship of the FATS, good & continuing education and mindful riders have kept a lot of the problems at bay. For all of us who have ridden trails who have been poorly constructed or seriously abused having a great, well-maintained trail is a contant reminder to protect it!
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Post by JIMMYC on Sept 5, 2007 9:24:49 GMT -5
If what you're saying is leave Modoc as it is, I'm all for that. Between the clear cut at the end and all the rerouts I think the trail on the ground has been "improved" enough.
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